Mayoral candidate again offers to take lie detector test
By Lee Raynor, Editor
Posted: Thursday, November 03, 2005
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Kinston mayoral candidate B.J. Murphy again is offering to take a lie detector test to prove his
truthfulness about a plot to control the mayor's race.
Murphy alleges that former Pride of Kinston president John Marston and City Council member
Alice Tingle were aware as early as January that "Buddy" Ritch had been chosen to run for the
mayor's seat and would step down later. His resignation would allow the City Council to select a mayor.
Murphy, who was president of Pride at the time of the conversations, said Marston wanted
Mayor Johnnie Mosley out because he presented a poor image of the city. Marston said Ritch
was the candidate who could pull the black vote away from Mosley in a primary.
Marston's prediction proved accurate. Ritch defeated Mosley in the September Democrat
primary. Black voter turnout was sparse and many voted for Ritch.
Ritch's victory pits him
against Murphy in the Nov. 8 General Election. Murphy is considered the underdog in the race.
A story in The Free Press on Thursday quoted Tingle as saying she did not recall the
conversation. Marston said he did not talk with Murphy about the plot. Neither person denied
that such a plan existed and neither offered to take a lie detector test to settle the question, as
Murphy continues to do.
The paper did not quote Murphy on the issue. |
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